An Qi'en calmly took the check from her hand and said politely: "Thank you, Miss Lin, for your donation."
"It is my duty to do what I can for the people of Jingyang. The prince has to deal with all kinds of trivial matters, which will trouble Mrs. An."
An Qi'en was quite surprised that Lin Yanyun had one attitude in the morning and another in the afternoon. They were completely different. They must have been educated by Mrs. Zhu.
She smiled lightly: "This is also my duty."
Lin Yanyun also pursed her lips and smiled slightly before saying goodbye. It was rare for her to look like a lady.
An Qien and Qingbi returned home. Qingbi couldn't help but laugh at Lin Yanyun: "It's hard for Lin Xiao to pretend. Her face doesn't change as fast as her when she sings."
"She's also a listener." An Qi'en followed up with a casual chat.
Qingbi sneered at Lin Yanyun: "Her heat only lasts three minutes, and no rich girl is as domineering and domineering as her."
An Qi'en suddenly felt funny. He couldn't help but smile, looked at the check in his hand and said, "It's a good thing that someone provides money for the children."
.......
Ever since An Shi'an refused to let An Qi'en deliver food, she never did so again. She spent her usual time busy with matters at the Children's Home or the pharmacy.
There was basically nothing going on at the Children's Hospital. The people in charge would take care of everything. If money was needed, they would give her an itemized list. An Qi'en only had to give him money.
She basically visits every two or three days, and when she has free time, she wants to get things done in the shop as soon as possible.
After looking at shops for a few days, I finally found a suitable one. Today I made an appointment to talk to the store owner about signing the lease.
She took the three maids out as long as they had nothing to do, and there was nothing to do in the house, so they would not be bored in the house.
When we arrived at the store, the man in charge said, "Madam, please sit down for a while. We have already invited the young master to come over."
An Qien nodded and smiled, then sat on the chair and waited.
This shop is neither big nor small, and the layout is very suitable for a drug store. The rent has been negotiated and all I have to do is come over today and sign the lease.
After waiting for a while, Zhao Yan came belatedly and saw that the person renting the shop was An Qien. Both parties were surprised.
The two of them had not seen each other since they picked An Shi'an up that day. He had gone to the orphanage several times to see An Qien, but he never met him once. He was usually busy with official duties and had no time.
An Qi'en didn't expect that this shop belonged to the Zhao family, so he stood up and greeted with a smile: "Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Yan looked excited: "I didn't expect you to be the one renting the shop. What a fate."
If he had known that she was the one renting the shop, he would not have collected the rent at all.
"I had nothing to do and wanted to rent a shop to pass the time, but I didn't expect that I would rent it from Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Yan: "Sit down quickly, sit down quickly."
He turned around and told the steward: "Uncle Xiang, make some tea quickly."
Uncle Xiang immediately went next door to prepare tea. The inn next door belonged to Zhao Mansion, so Uncle Xiang came back quickly with a teapot.
After pouring tea for the two of them, Uncle Xiang withdrew.
Zhao Yan politely made a gesture of inviting tea: "Mrs. An, please."
An Qi'en nodded slightly, picked up the tea cup, opened the tea leaves with the tea lid, and took a sip of tea.
After drinking the tea, Zhao Yan put down the teacup and said, "Ms. An, you can use this shop without paying rent."
An Qi'en put down the tea cup and said calmly: "Young master Zhao, you can't do this. You can get as much silver as you want. If your shop is used in vain, I will feel very sorry. If word spreads, there will be criticism. Your shop Okay, I’m very satisfied with it, so I’ll sign it as I discussed with Uncle Xiang.”
Although the rent is expensive for ordinary people, it doesn't mean much money to her, because this small amount of money takes advantage of others, which is not only a debt of favor, but also bad for her reputation.
It's better for everyone to do things in a satisfactory manner.
Seeing her determined look, Zhao Yan couldn't say anything more: "Well, if you need help in the future, just ask."
"good."
Zhao Yan asked Uncle Xiang to bring over the text of the lease agreement. After the two signed, Qingbi handed the money to Uncle Xiang, and the matter was settled!
Zhao Yan asked: "I heard that you plan to open a medicine shop, right?"
"yes."
Zhao Yan thought thoughtfully for a moment and said, "My grandmother may know some wholesalers of herbal medicines. Does Mrs. An need my grandmother's help in recommending them?"
An Qi'en smiled gently: "Thank you very much, Mrs. Zhao. I'll go visit her in a few days. I won't be free these days."
Zhao Yan pursed his lips and nodded. At this moment, a swarm of swarms of swarms were running forward on the street outside. Someone in the crowd shouted: "Hurry up, hurry up, there will be no more if you go late."
Everyone was holding a bowl in their hands. Zhao Yan asked doubtfully: "Who is building the porridge shed?"
"It should be the prince. There are many old, weak, sick, disabled, women and children in Jingyang. It has been very difficult for everyone in the past few years. Now we can only help the wealthy people first to help those who have no food to eat."
An Qi'en had mixed feelings when she looked at the women and children outside asking for food. She had no land or food in Jingyang, and it was extremely difficult to buy food at this time.
The newly planted crops after the drought have not matured yet, and generally only wealthy families have sufficient food. Lu Bochu has already written back to Beijing. Even if His Majesty agrees to allocate food, it will take at least one month.
Lu Bochu is naturally the first to bear the brunt of his high position. It depends on whether the big families behind him will follow suit.
Zhao Yan thought that the prince had already set up a porridge shed, and the Zhao family was not a small family in Jingyang. It would not be good to pretend to be blind at this time.
He immediately said: "Yes, life is difficult for everyone, so please help if you can. Although the Zhao family does not have much food, it is still willing to solve the urgent needs of the people of Jingyang."
An Qi'en smiled slightly: "Master Zhao is kind-hearted!"
She suddenly thought of something and said: "Well, let me buy a pig with money. Just drinking white porridge will not be nutritious. Why not give them meat porridge, which is nutritious at least."
Zhao Yan's eyes were ambiguous and admiring: "Ms. An is very considerate. I happen to know the butcher who sells pigs. Why don't we cooperate and I will help Mian and Mian to produce the meat. I heard that Ms. An is very good at her craftsmanship. This time everyone will have a good meal." ”
An Qi'en thought this was a good idea, and the two hit it off immediately: "Okay, listen to Mr. Zhao."
The two immediately went to buy pigs. When they arrived at the butcher's house, An Qien chose the fattest and largest pig.
After giving the money, An Qien and Zhao Yan went outside to wait. The butcher was an expert at killing pigs very quickly. After a few squeals, there was no movement, and then there was a crackling sound like chopping bones.
Later, Zhao Yan asked An Qi'en to get on the carriage and wait while he ordered people to transport the slaughtered pork back.
After buying the pork, the two returned to the market. The Zhao family had already built a shed, a boiler, prepared firewood, and written a notice.
"There will be lean meat porridge to eat tomorrow."
Some people just stopped going home when they saw there was meat to eat. They were afraid that they wouldn't be able to grab it tomorrow, so they stayed here and queued up today. And there were not just one or two people, but the queue was getting longer and longer.
Although the servants told them that there would be food for everyone tomorrow and there would be no shortage of food, these people preferred to wait here all night.
Zhao Yan took people back to the house to clean the pork. An Qi'en came over first to see how the porridge shed was being built. Unexpectedly, he saw such a long queue.
She has really lived too many good lives, but there are so many people in seemingly prosperous Jingyang who don't have enough to eat.
An Qi'en saw that everything was almost ready. These people seemed to be hungry. Although they had eaten at Lu Bochu's porridge shed, the porridge was too easy to digest and they would be hungry soon.
She thought that it was possible to provide food every day, but she couldn't do it every day, because there was only so much food, and if she wanted to fundamentally solve this problem, she had to be rich first!
Sometimes she wondered why she had to care so much. She was just an ordinary woman, but she couldn't bear to see the children crying for food and the helpless eyes of women one after another. Maybe she was born to care about the world. people.
Zhao Yan came over and was shocked when he saw this scene. He said with a serious face: "This is not a solution after all. If we want the people to have enough to eat, we have to solve the problem fundamentally."
"The key is that this fundamental problem is difficult to solve. The crops in the fields will not be harvested until April or May. Even if the court allocates food, it cannot guarantee that every household will have food to eat."
After saying this, she couldn't help but laugh at herself: "All the civil and military officials are not in a hurry. Why do you think I, a woman from out of town, am in a hurry?"
Zhao Yan knew that she was completely disappointed with these officials, otherwise she would not have said such words.
.....
Lu Bochu was also very anxious. He was discussing the matter with An Shi'an: "We can't wait any longer in this situation. We must first find a way to get enough food."
An Shian analyzed and said: "Your Majesty, the whole country is short of food now, and the food in the national treasury is not enough. I have thought of a way."
Lu Bochu was surprised: "What method?"
An Shian clasped his fists: "You can use sweet potatoes, potatoes, and taro as staple food, but these also take a certain amount of time from planting to growing."
Lu Bochu frowned. This method could not solve the current urgent need. He suddenly thought of the neighboring country on the border - Qiguo!
Although Qi is a small country, there is no drought in the plains and there should be enough food if there are no floods.
But Qi Country is not friendly to their country. Although they have never fought a war, they have always been in a tit-for-tat situation.
It is not easy to buy food from Qiguo.
Lu Bochu murmured: "If Qi Guo is willing to sell food to us now, this is the fastest way to solve our urgent need!"
An Shi'an said: "I'm afraid this is a difficult task, but I'm willing to give it a try. I'll go and talk to Qi Guo first."
Lu Bochu picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea. He nodded heavily and said, "You try to step forward first. If it doesn't work, I will personally go and talk to you."
An Shian clasped his fists: "Yes."
It was already dark when we returned from Prince Xian's Mansion. An Qi'en had gone to bed early when he returned to the mansion. Bai Lu said that he would get up early to make porridge for the people tomorrow morning, so he went to bed early.
An Shi'an originally wanted to discuss with her how to make Qi Guo sell food easily, but he stopped talking when he saw that she fell asleep.
